Submit SNSF Swiss Postdoctoral Fellowships
Switzerland is considered a non-associated third country in the 2024 calls for project proposals in Horizon Europe (work programme 2023-2025) and related programmes and initiatives. Therefore, for the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellowships, early-career researchers with destination Switzerland are not eligible to apply for European fellowships. For this reason, the SNSF is offering an alternative, comparable call for proposals as part of the transitional measures in 2024.
Information about the scope of this program can be found in the respective "Funding Opportunity" section.
At the time of submission deadline, applicants must hold a doctoral degree (PhD), and proposals must be submitted within 8 years after the obtainment of the doctoral degree (PhD). The relevant date is that of the examination or thesis defense.
Applicants must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Switzerland for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately prior to the submission deadline.
Applicants whose proposal was rejected under SNSF Swiss Postdoctoral Fellowships 2023 may only submit a revised application involving the same Swiss host institution if an evaluation score of at least 6.3 was achieved.
Two support letters of the host institution are needed.
- a confirmation from the host institution: no form or template is provided by the SNSF. The confirmation letter must bear the official letterhead of the host institution and an original signature (a digital signature is permissible) of the head of the ETH department (no e-mail). The confirmation must state clearly that the necessary infrastructure is available for the duration of the grant. The start and end dates of the grant must be stated.
- a commitment letter from the host supervisor confirming their willingness to mentor and support the applicant. Again, there is no template but the SNSF strongly encourages the host supervisor to comment on the following aspects: How is the research project supported scientifically? How is the applicant’s scientific independence ensured and promoted? How is the continuous intellectual development and continuing education of the applicant facilitated? The letter of the supervisor must bear the official letterhead of the host institution and an original signature (a digital signature is permissible; no e-mail).
- The host does not need to be a professor, but an experienced researcher who is able to mentor the fellow for the entire period of the fellowship. The supervision is part of the evaluation.
- For SNSF Postdoctoral Fellowship applications no support letter from the VP for Research is needed.
For more information please have a look at the external page SNSF website.
The application must be submitted using the online platform external page mySNF. If you submit an application to the SNSF for the first time: register on mySNF and request your user account. The SNSF will then send you your login information by e-mail. Please note: you must request your user account at least one month before the submission deadline. If not, the SNSF cannot guarantee timely access to mySNF.
Important: Please create your CV in the new format on the SNSF Portal in good time. For your first login, you will need a SWITCH-edu ID and an ORCID ID, which may take a few days to obtain.
All relevant information regarding the application procedure can be found on the external page SNSF website.
All important documents (guidelines, templates) are available on the external page SNSF Postdoctoral Fellowship website.
